How to Make Glitter You Can Eat

Last Updated: November 30, 2016

By
Shari's Berries

Baking with glitter is super fun. It can transform a plain cupcake into a spectacular sparkly treat. Sure, you could run out to the store and buy sprinkles. But we know you're more creative than that. So we rounded up 4 fun and easy ways to add some razzle dazzle to your desserts. And you probably already have most of the ingredients you need in your pantry!

Glitter 101

Raw sugar glitter, gelatin glitter, gum arabic glitter and tylose powder glitter. Edible glitter is simple to make, but for some methods, you’ll have to wait longer for it to bake or dry. If you want something quick, raw sugar is the way to go. For extra shimmer, try the gelatin or tylose powder methods.

Gelatin Glitter

Gelatin is mainly used as a thickener to sauces or desserts such as panna cotta. The main thing to remember about working with gelatin is don’t let it overheat. If you do, you’ll end up with a clumpy mess (believe us, we learned the hard way). While this makes beautiful glitter you can eat, it also has the longest wait time: a total of about 7 hours. You can reduce this time by putting the sheets of gelatin near a fan so that they dry a little faster.

Gum Arabic Glitter

Gum arabic has the properties of a glue or binder. It’s used in baking as a thickening agent in icings and fillings. Our experience with gum arabic glitter was quite fun. We learned that it picks up color well, so a little coloring goes a long way. Be sure to let the pieces cool when you take them out of the oven. After that, it’s easy to use your hands to break up the pieces. Gum arabic glitter took us a total of about 15 minutes to make. It works great with small baked goods such as cupcakes or cookies.

Raw Sugar Glitter

You can also make glitter with cane sugar. Raw sugar creates a shinier glitter with more glimmer because the sugar particles are thicker. The only downside is the slight brown tone. Keep that in mind when adding coloring. However, this method was the easiest to make. Baking allows the color to settle without staining, but if you’re in a rush, you can get a similar shimmer without baking. This method took a mere 7 minutes with baking.

Tylose Powder Glitter

Tylose powder helps make fondant a bit easier to work with and can be mixed with water to make glue you can eat. One thing to note is that regardless of how well you mix, you’ll still have tylose powder chunks in your mixture. This is perfectly normal and will still give you great results. Tylose powder glitter takes about an hour and a half to make. But keep an eye your batch as all ovens are different.

More Sparkly Treats

We hope you’re inspired to add some dazzle to your treats after seeing these four easy glitter DIYs. If you’re in a pinch and don’t have time to make your own glitter, send a sparkly holiday surprise from our festive collection of christmas treats.